CopyMax for PCB printing?

[H4T]

So I went to CopyMax today and got a layout for the Nurse Quacky pedal printed out (bought all the other parts). I instructed them to use glossy photo paper through a laser printer, which I think they did. I had to commandeer the computer to format my image the way I wanted though, haha.

Anyway, I don't have brand name, type, anything on the paper, but I know it is glossy paper, hopefully photo paper. I don't want to ruin a piece of copper-clad board, so I need to know, am I worrying about this too much, or is the paper fine? Its shiny and thicker than normal paper, but I've heard a lot of different people saying you need specific brands...should I risk it?

[mojotron]

So I went to CopyMax today and got a layout for the Nurse Quacky pedal printed out (bought all the other parts). I instructed them to use glossy photo paper through a laser printer, which I think they did. I had to commandeer the computer to format my image the way I wanted though, haha.

Anyway, I don't have brand name, type, anything on the paper, but I know it is glossy paper, hopefully photo paper. I don't want to ruin a piece of copper-clad board, so I need to know, am I worrying about this too much, or is the paper fine? Its shiny and thicker than normal paper, but I've heard a lot of different people saying you need specific brands...should I risk it?

You can always iron it on and see what happens - you're likely to not mess up the copper - unless you use sand paper (like I do) to remove it.

The paper is not quite that critical. Not that it was a lot of fun - but I have used and gotten decent results with generic paper off of an abused photocopier in the corner gas station. I just had to do and re-do the transfer until I perfected the technique with generic paper. With anything other then PNP, you're going to likely have to re-do the job a few times to get the technique down. Have patience, and expect only to learn how to get great results - the whole image transfer thing takes some practice - so what I did was to print out a sheet of paper with like 10-12 images of the board I wanted to make, eventually I got to the point where I got it right using just about any paper the 1st or 2nd time.

Prepping the board before the image transfer - cleaning, light (but thourough) sanding with 220 wet/dry sandpaper, washing with acetone 4-5 times following the light sanding and using the right heat setting ended up being the key to getting the image transfer right for me.

Any paper can work, some are way better than others and there is really no magic brand - although in general shiny==better. But, once I did 1 board with PNP I knew I would never even think about using anything else.

[H4T]

Ok, got that figured out, and thats another issue; the prepping.

a) I've heard of using 400 grit sandpaper too, but I thought sandpaper was more for woods and steel wool would be better for metals?  I'm trying to buy as little as possible here.
b) As for cleaning beforehand, I heard you can use soap and water just as well instead of acetone?
c) To remove the toner after the etching process, can I just use fingernail polish, which is aceont based?
d) I suppose every iron would be different, so I can't really ask about the heat settings.

I'd like to use PNP Blue, but its so expensive, and then shipping and handling doubles the price for me, so I don't want to use PNP until I start getting some good money :S

[wui223]

I use transparency to transfer, it works! It is cheaper also